Part journal, part nonsense, part sublime inspiration, wholly Faith-ful

Archive for June, 2009

Okay–my first acquaintance with David Tennant was in his incarnation as Barty Crouch, Jr., in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. He was gross, definitely, but I remember telling Izzybella that I thought the actor was actually quite good-looking. She said I was nuts.

And then I saw Doctor Who and thought he was one of the best-looking men I’ve ever seen.

Okay, so I like my men slightly geeky. Moving on: I did not have the good fortune to see him play Hamlet, but thanks to teh internets, I still got to see what he looks like as Hamlet.

This is the wallpaper on my laptop. Fortunately my husband is perfectly confident and doesn’t feel threatened by this. I hope that he does more movies, because 3 seasons of Doctor Who cannot satisfy my David Tennant cravings.

And since I’m watching Goblet of Fire, I have to show you that I like Cedric Diggory:

MUCH more than Edward Cullen:

who seems to be going through a phase where he doesn’t believe in combs.

“What is Truth? said jesting Pilate; and would not stay for an answer.” (Francis Bacon)

Not even what is Truth, the abstract concept, but what is true? Where is the truth behind all the politicians and their rhetoric? Where is the truth in the media? Where is the truth? What’s right? What’s honest? What’s right?

“Let us understand: North Vietnam cannot defeat or humiliate the United States. Only Americans can do that.” (Richard M. Nixon)

I think America’s doing a fine job of humiliating itself.

“I’m not going to be the first American president to lose a war.” (Richard M. Nixon)

World War I was called “The Great War” because it was such a horror that at the time it was inconceivable that there could be another such war. And then came World War II. And Korea. And Vietnam. And the Faulklands. And the Gulf War. And the War on Terror, just to name a few. Why are we still at war?

“It’s reasonably clear that the official reasons for the war cannot be taken seriously. The Bush Administration is carrying out a serious assault against the general population. They have to prevent people from paying attention, and the only way anyone has ever figured out how to do that is to terrify them with tales of monsters who are about to destroy us.” (Noam Chomsky)

There’s no question that there are monsters out to destroy us.

But it seems that sometimes we are the monsters.

“War should be the politics of last resort. And when we go to war, we should have a purpose that our people understand and support.” (Colin Powell)

I agree. War should be the last resort. I don’t think it is, though.

“When the tyrant has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing more to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader.” (Plato)

“Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more, Or close the wall up with our English dead! In peace there’s nothing so becomes a man As modest stillness and humility; But when the blast of war blows in our ears, Then initiate the action of the tiger: Stiffen the sinews; summon up the blood.” (William Shakespeare)

How many lives does it take to close the wall up with our dead, or with the enemy’s dead?

“You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake.” (Jeannette Rankin)

War always comes at an unbearably high cost.

“The opposite of war is not peace, It’s creation.” (Jonathan Larson)

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction. . . . The chain reaction of evil–hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars–must be broken, or we shall be plunged ino the dark abyss of annihilation.” (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Sometimes my sister and I are joking around, being juvenile, and we’ll start the touching game. You know the one I mean, where your parents holler from the front seat that from now on, no one is to touch anyone. And we’re quiet for a moment or two, then one of us will slowly reach out an index finger and touch the other. That leads to more touching until we’re punching each other. And one of us will usually say something like, “Dad! She hit me back first!”

“A strange game. The only winning move is not to play.” (WOPR, from the movie War Games after learning the futility of “playing” Global Thermonuclear War by playing a seemingly endless series of Tic-Tac-Toe with itself)

There are no winners. There are only losers: wives who have lost their husbands, sisters who have lost their brothers, brothers who have lost their sisters, parents who have lost their children, children who have lost their parents, nations with people who have lost their homes, their livelihoods, their families, their innocence. For you believe your cause is just, and I know mine is. You know that God has ordered you to wipe us out, just as I know that you are the Godless enemy.

I’m not saying I’ve got all the answers. I just have a lot of questions.

Now, the not so happy. As everyone in the U.S. probably knows by now, both Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson passed away today. I remember religiously watching Charlie’s Angels every week when I was a kid, and spending hours with a curling iron trying to perfect Farrah’s hair. (Lunatic spent hours staring at the infamous poster, but you know, he’s a guy.) I know she’s been in a lot of pain as she’s fought such a valiant fight against the cancer, and I also know her family and friends will miss her terribly. My prayers go out for them all.

And Michael Jackson! Somehow one doesn’t think of death and Michael Jackson in the same breath. He never struck me as being a happy person. I hope that he is now able to find peace and rest. And I’m praying for him and his loved ones, as well.

Every time I’ve decided to lose weight, I’ve gone on a diet. That meant things like eliminating entire foods out of my life, or counting calories, or counting fat & fiber, or counting points, or buying prepackaged food from places like Jenny Craig. And it also meant lots of cravings, temptations to cheat, and the inevitable binges that led to the diet being completely abandoned. It was all about deprivation. Seriously. I remember being on Weight Watchers, and figuring out how much food I could possibly eat and still stay within points. Or I’d decide to eat something bad, so I’d look up the points and plan around it. And I lost weight. Every time I joined Weight Watchers, I’d lose weight for as long as I stayed with the program.

So now I have eliminated entire foods out of my life (meats, dairy, eggs). I’m not paying someone $35 a month to go sit in meetings and weigh in once a week. I’m not counting calories, or points, or anything else. And I’ve lost 30 pounds–it came off very quickly at first, but then slowed down to a trickle. And yes, I do weigh myself every morning. Even though the scale seems to have gone on hiatus, I can tell how much I’ve lost by how my clothes fit (or don’t fit). I still don’t like to see pictures of myself, because I still look incredibly obese (that would be because I am), but when I can jump up and down and have my pants fall to my ankles, well! Very gratifying! But there’s no deprivation here. None. This morning I had a bowl of oats with a little Sucanat, some cinnamon, a sliced banana and a few sliced almonds. Then I ate some fresh cherries and red grapes. I’m feeling a little hungry now, so I may go have a little fresh roasted-garlic bread with a little schmear of Earth Balance margarine (tastes way better than some of the alternatives and it melts, too, like it’s supposed to). I don’t know yet what I’ll have for dinner, but I guarantee you that it will be delicious and satisfying.

I like abundance. I like being able to eat whatever I want whenever I’m hungry. It’s a great feeling. I don’t have to figure out how to eat the bad stuff and still have points for the rest of the day. There is no bad stuff. (Well, okay, I could go eat a bag of Oreos, and that wouldn’t be a good thing.) I’m not feeling deprived because I choose not to eat cheese, for example. Who cares about cheese or eggs when I can have a pound of fresh cherries, or a tofu scramble with potatoes and black beans, or a bbq seitan sandwich with a couple of blue tortilla chips.

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Feel free to email me at chauceriangirl(at) gmail (dot) com, if you'd like to say something but don't feel like leaving a comment on the blog.

"You can get sympathy or you can get better, but you can't get both. You can be in your comfort zone or you can have growth, but you can't have both. You can be interested or you can be sold-out committed, but you can't entertain both. You can have excuses or have results, but you can't do both. Choose the path that develops your visceral fortitude." ---Mario Cortes

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